The court voted 8-1 in favor of the Westboro Baptist Church’s right to protest outside the funerals — though the court recognized the right of local authorities to put restrictions on how close to a proceeding the group can protest.

The opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts found that while the protests may “inflict great pain,” the group is constitutional protected to engage in the demonstrations.

Writing the lone dissenting opinion, Samuel Alito contended that “our profound national commitment to free and open debate is not a license for the vicious verbal assault that occurred in this case.